Lgbtq foster youth

An advocacy group of foster youths sets its sights for the 2019 legislative session on issues such as preventing houselessness Foster care youths past and present are drawing on their own traumatic experiences to help create policies to improve the system – and they have a fresh list of ideas for 2019 lawmakers. “My experience taught me a lot about how screwed up our systems are,” said Elsana, a 23-year-old who is still struggling to find stability after growing up in foster care. In the past 10 years, Elsana has bounced in and out of several foster care homes and facilities. After running away from one group home, Elsana was sucked into the world of sex trafficking. When authorities found Elsana, it was off to more foster homes and Portland’s Rosemont Treatment Center. That’s when the youth decided to end it all. “I remember people running into the room and people screaming,” Elsana said. “I could feel myself dying. I could hear the … [Read more...] about Former foster youths lobby to improve transitions for their peers

By Adam Escoto | PUBLISHED: June 15, 2018 at 6:45 am | UPDATED: June 15, 2018 at 7:05 am On Sunday, families will spend time with one another, celebrating the men in their lives – fathers, grandfathers, uncles and brothers – a day of love and laughter. However, for children in foster care, Father’s Day is often painful, a day of sadness due to separation from family, a day of loneliness. For boys and young men whose fathers are not able to participate in their life, it’s crucial that they have a role model to support and guide them through life. Foster children, in particular, are the most vulnerable. Without a consistent, caring adult in their life, less than 50 percent of foster youth will graduate high school, 33 percent will become homeless and 25 percent will become incarcerated. Unfortunately, many boys and young men in need of guidance and support do not have a male mentor or father figure in their life. At most nonprofits that work … [Read more...] about Opinion: On this Father’s Day, become a male mentor for foster kids

By City News Service | PUBLISHED: May 2, 2018 at 9:54 am | UPDATED: May 2, 2018 at 9:54 am It’s National Foster Care Month, and Los Angeles County has planned a series of events — including one in Pasadena and another in Carson — aimed at attracting more families willing to mentor, foster or adopt children. Roughly 500 children are waiting to be adopted into a loving home, said Neil Zanville, a spokesman for the Department of Children and Family Services. “Through no fault of their own, they find that their world has been turned upside down,” Zanville said. “But they’re capable of accomplishing great things if they have someone who is there for them.” That’s also the message of a video that will play when travelers log onto free Wi-Fi at Los Angeles International Airport this month. FosterMore’s “Because You Were There” video shares the gratitude of former foster youth whose lives have been touched by community … [Read more...] about LA County is looking for more foster parents; meetings planned in Pasadena and Carson

When Steven Arauz decided he wanted to become a foster dad, he was 26, single and living in a condo on Daytona Beach.“I was definitely the youngest in my foster training classes,” he said. “But I was at a point where I had graduated college, I had been working for a couple of years, I had traveled around the world, and I had the things I wanted. I was just at a place where I was trying to figure out whether there was more to life.”In the three years since, Arauz — who now lives in Orlando and teaches sixth-grade history at a private school — has fostered 10 kids, including one who has become his adopted son. And this year, the two joined a Central Florida campaign to recruit “nontraditional” foster parents for what has become a critical need.“We have tried since we began managing foster care not to be ‘the sky is falling’ type of agency,” said Glen Casel, CEO of the nonprofit Community Based Care of Central … [Read more...] about Single parents, same-sex couples recruited in ‘critical’ need for foster homes in Central Florida

When Steven Arauz decided he wanted to become a foster dad, he was 26, single and living in a condo on Daytona Beach.“I was definitely the youngest in my foster training classes,” he said. “But I was at a point where I had graduated college, I had been working for a couple of years, I had traveled around the world, and I had the things I wanted. I was just at a place where I was trying to figure out whether there was more to life.”In the three years since, Arauz — who now lives in Orlando and teaches sixth-grade history at a private school — has fostered 10 kids, including one who has become his adopted son. And this year, the two joined a Central Florida campaign to recruit “nontraditional” foster parents for what has become a critical need.“We have tried since we began managing foster care not to be ‘the sky is falling’ type of agency,” said Glen Casel, CEO of the nonprofit Community Based Care of Central … [Read more...] about Single parents, same-sex couples recruited in ‘critical’ need for foster homes